New linkway to Bukit Panjang MRT station will open in Q1

A new underpass that will provide sheltered access from surrounding HDB blocks to the Bukit Panjang MRT station is now slated to open in the first quarter of 2018, after a delay of more than a year.

When the line was designed and built, only two entrances to the station were planned. But the authorities gave the approval for a third entrance in 2013, after lobbying by Holland-Bukit Timah GRC’s residents and its MPs Liang Eng Hwa and Vivian Balakrishnan.

Construction on the 100-metre linkway, which will serve as the third entrance to Bukit Panjang MRT station, started in 2014 and was supposed to open in December 2016. However, LTA explained that it was pushed back due to problems in construction, such as high rock levels during excavation and utilities over-crossing the construction shaft of the new entrance. As these utilities could not be diverted, more time was needed for the contractor to carry out manual mining works around the utilities to avoid damaging them.

Liang, grassroots adviser for the Zhenghua ward in the GRC, said the new underpass can serve 50 housing blocks or about 8,000 households in the area. “With the underground connectivity, residents can avoid the busy traffic junction,” he added.